Truck body



patented Bec. 19, 1922.

risticii BODY.

Application filed February 16,1922. Serial No.y 536,929.

To all wlw/m '25 may concern.'V

Be it known that I,- JOHN Comin, a citizen ot. the United,- States, residing at Stilln'ater, in the county of lWashington a provision of roller mechanism, ivhich latter .will include a main manually operable roller havingran intermediate journal support,l

State ot'll/linnesota, have invented certain new and useful lmprwementsA in Truck Bodies, ol which .the `followiifig is a speciiicatio l I This invention'relates to lumber trucks, and more particularly to trucks designed` for mechanically unloading or dumping, a pile ot lumber as a unit, the principal object olf the invention being, the provision of builtin means carried by the. truck body, Wheretively long span betiveen the journals.

by the door thereof maybeeasily andA readily rendered available for transporting ksuch manufacturedmill-ivoik, ,and other inerchandisc as requires careful handling during transportation, and `which cannot bey safely hauled, unless rresting upon a flat.

smooth truck bottoni free from shoulders.

ln ordinary trucks designed'ltor transporting heavyloads of lumber, pondcrous built-in rollers are provided, these rollers vextending transversely ol the body at intervals throughout the length thereof. ln -order to sustain heavy loads, and inasmuch the rollers, 'are in most ycases supported in .a pair ol" gournals, one at each end thereoi, .it necessary to construct the rollers of relatively ylarge diameter, owing to the rela- -ln c ot these trucks these heavy rollers are idually ren'iovable, by the removal of the foregoing, requires a considerable period, ot strenuous labor for one or tivoinen., thereby rendering it unprolitable and impracticable to use thesetruclis for mixed loads to he hauled alternately at frequent short-intervals of time. n l f Further.' the large open channels jor giroovesg` left in the bed of the truck after rem oi 'el et the rollers, is injurious to millsuch as cabinets, Window frames, and thelike, or other finished merchandise, when .1 bolts and requiring several nienv the load shifts slightly, and it' has been'fthe ,'customto prevent this to provide aportable auxiliary floor. i

.A further object oit the invention, is the .vherebythe struct-ure may be materially reduced in Weight and size, vso that it maybe readil lifted bT one erson and sWunU clear y s ofv the bed, means also being provided form y automatically. holding said roller outfof opeii'ative position.

A yfurther obiectiolI the invention isqthe provision 4of. rollers which are ,supported in` a mannen;y to bring their uppermost peripheral edges coincident With a planeinclining slightlyptoward the rear of fthe truck, said `rollers also gradually reducing in size from ,the rrear ot the truck foruardlyso that the load", `on alevel road-Way, will-be slightly Y- f the invention consisting in the construction liereinalfter described and speciically claim-led.

combination and arrangen'ient of parts ln the accompanying drawings: Figure l, is a semi-diagrammatic lperspective view of a truck body, drawn to a reduced scale, embodying my invention'.

Fig. 2, is ay plan view of the rear end of the trucl: body, showing the sivingable main roller, parts thereof being broken away.

Fig'. 3, is a side view ot same. i Fig. 4l, isa vertical sectional vieivon line l-'Ll oi Fig. 2.

Fig, 5,'is a rea journal support ot the mainrollerj view ot the intermediate' Figsk and '7, are perspective views drawn',

to a reduced scale, of the automatic latchor locking mechanism for, the 'main roller the .views showing, respectively, the supporting braolretflor the latch bar andthe latch lbar proper'. 1 f

Fig. S, is a rear vieivotthe floor of the truck, showing the'larger ot the, auxiliary rollers, and-the manually operablemecha-lk nism tor holdingthe auxiliary rolle-rapo-I l ed or withdrawn position.

sitioned, said mechanism and iooi' being partly broken awa-y and shown partly in section.

Fig. 9, is a plan view of the underside of one ot' the sliding p-in elements Jfor holding the auxiliary roller shown 'partly broken away. i

Fig. 10, isa side elevation ot the locking member for controlling the sliding pin ele-.,

ments whereby to hold the latter in extend- Fig. 11, is a perspective view of a stop adapted toy co-act 'withl the locking member.

. Fig, 12, is `a semi-diagrammatic side ele vation of Fig. 1, 'showing the progressively reduced rollers anc' their relative location on i the truck floor. j y

F ig. 13, is an end view of the rea-r end of the truck iloor 'showing one of the squared ends of the main roller, and the portable le ver handle in engagement'therewith, and

Fig'. 14, is a plan view of saine showing lthe lever handle in interchangeable positions. 4 l

"ln the drawings, A. designates the Arelatively long rectangular iloor of a truck body, B a bolster flush ywith the i'earyend thereoi,"and extending from side to side, and C longitudinal rail members extending spacedly and parallel from said bolster to' the forward portion of the truck body. The

parts A, B, and C are present in nearly yall truck body structures, it beingI understood that the bolstermay be'built out to accom-k y'niodate the invention, in Acases where it is notv tlushwith the rear end of the truck.

\ Applicants device comprises a main, pretera'bly fluted conveyorroll 1, whereby to `roll the load, an intermediate auxiliary "roller 2, and a front-auxiliary roller 3,'the

rollers and roll being supported on the truck body, to bring their upper peripheral edges into alinement `in a plane which is slightly inclined rearwardly so that lumber piled thereon will not tend to roll off the truck when ony a level road.

The main roll comprises a pair of tinted roller sections Ll, an'intermediatejournal bearing '5, between said roller sections, outer journal ends 6, one for each roller section, and squared stub ends 'iioriuing terminals of the main'roll, said stub ends adapted to enter the socket 8, ot the lever handle 9,

' whereby-the roll maybe manually rotated,

when desired. l

- Firmly bolted as by means of the bolts 10, to the bolster rB, is the angle pivot support yor bracket 11,A said bracket being formed with a pair ot `spaced'upwardly extending web plates 12, through which two of said bolts' extend, and a pair ot spaced outwardly extendingpivot.` lugs '13 bolted horizontally and transversely ot the truck,

to receive the pivotpin 1li, the space beti'i'ieen said plates and lugs being ci uniioi'in ii'idth, and extending at right. angles to the bolster B. y

The angle bracket is also provided with a `horizontally disposed bolting plate 1-1 at right angles to the plates 12, and extending flatly over thefunderside of the bolster and having suitable bolt holes to receive bolts as shown, whereby to be secured to the bolster. 4 Pivotally supported at its lower extremity onk the pin 111, and extending vertically to a `vpoint above the floor A of the truck, is the link 15, said link supporting a pivot pin 16 disposed! parallelto the pin 14e, said pin extending through a pair of spaced lugs `17 `somewhat similar to the lugs 13, the shank 16 ot the link fitting slidably between the :lugs B andr theplates 12, whereby to effect long side bearings for said shank to guard against lateral movement ot the link. j

The lugs 17, are adapted to pivotally re ceive between them, the lug 1S, forming part of the journal box 19. The journal box is formed with a shoulder 20, adapted to engage with the shoulder 21 of the journal box, whereby the underside 22 of the latter, will extend atright angles tothe yshank of the link, the distance between the pivotv pins 14 and 16 being such,`as to bring` the'underside 22 in fiat Contact with the floor ofthe truck (Fig,r 3.) y

The journal box is further provided with a transversely disposed bore 23, in which is `journaled the bearing G, there being' one for each endet the roll.y The upper outer contour of the journal box is inscribed within "the" bodylines of theroller sections, to per- ',mit the lumber to freely' roll thereon and link may be bodily swung to assume the position underneath the truck floor as indicated in dotted lines. f

' Midway, between the journal boxes 19, is

the Ainte'rmediatei journal support 26, said support comprising a base block-2G, and a removable cap 26, heldv positionedA `by suitabley capscrews 26". The journal support is bored to rotatably receive the center bearing '5,' ot the roll, and is formed-with a lug 27, which latter fits between the lugs 13 ofthe link 27', the'latter being substantially similar to the link 15 ot the end jour- Inal supports. The pivot bolt 27 of the midwayv support, is alined with the pivot i ins @16. while a pivot )in Jr Fis. fl is "l i l a ics ilo

the end `journal supports, said pin being y tremity on said thereof being opposed `illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4:.

Preferably bolted one to each of the rails supported by anl angle bracket substantially similar to .the angle brackets 11.

Obviously, all olf the journal boxes are swingablein unison about the pivot 14, the boxes standing at right angles to the links when in'underslung position, as is clearly C, and extending below the underside thereof, are the brackets 28, the latter located forward of the main roll, and each bracket car-y rying atits forward end a transversely disposed pivot pin 28.

Pivotally supported at its forward expivot pin is the rearwardly extending latch bar 29, said bar being formed with a hook 29, 'the jaw thereof opening forwardly' and downwardly. A. rearwardly inclined edge 29 forms 'an kapproach tothe jaw, so that when the roll 1, is swung about the pivot 141-, it will strike said inclined edge and thereby lift the latch bar f and ente-r lthe jaw thereof. The latch bar is held in normal position by the stop pin 30, which latter is carried by the bracket 28, said pin extending loosely through the slot 30 in the latch bar. Loacting with the hook 29 isthe secondary hook 30, the jaw to that of the hook 29,fand adapted to embrace the opposite side of the roll, said secondary hook having pivot support 31, located forward of and above the jaw of the latch bar Land approximately in a line 31 intersecting the` pivot 14, and the main roll when thelatter is in underslung position.

Obviously, the journal boxes and their respective links 15, will tend to straighten out when underslung by a. pivotal movement about the pivot 16, if the secondary hook 30 were not provided, it being obvious that the pull on the secondary hook is exerted in f GO the direction of the line 31. The pivot 31, constitutes a fulcrum, inasmuch as the body of the hook extends beyond said pivotV and is provided with a finger plate 32, whereby the secondary hook may be raised to free the roll, as indicated in the line dotted lines in `Fig. 4,-. In the operation ofdepressing the linger plate 32, a lifting movement of the latch bar may be simultaneously performed, to lift the'bar out of the path'of the roll.

The central journal box 26 is cut away as at 32,j to harmonize with the angle indi` cated by the line 24, Fig. 3, so that in dumping a load of lumber, the links -and journal boxes will amply clear, when the load initially strikes the ground. As stated, in the foregoing, the roll may be rotated inthe process of unloading by the use of the crank lever 9. Then a load of lumber. has been unbound, or, in other words, when the usual chains ordinarily vone .at each rear corner of projecting from the truckfioor ant body. `The bell crank is purpose of so locking the roll, the rearwardly inclined stopv pins 33 are provided the truck bed. The socket 3 of the crank lever extends parallelto the handle thereon'and an appreciable distance outwardly from the body of thel crank lever, so that the latter will clear the truck bed. The lever is provided with an opening 34- adapted to receive the pins 33, so .that when the lever isreversed, as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, the opening 34 will cup over the pin 33 and thereby lock the roll against rotation. n

The auxiliary rollers 2 and 3 (Fig. l) yare held to prevent rotation thereof, and in parallelism with the main roll by means of the retaining pins 35, one oneither side of the roller near opposite ends thereof, said `pins ,being of lesser height than the diameter of ythe re-` spective rollers. For the purposeof with.- drawing the pins to render the truck floor free from obstructions and permit the rollers to roll forwardly in a dumping .operation manually operable individual withdrawing mechanism is provided for the pins of each of said rollers, saidmechanism consist-ingfin part of a `plurality .of,devices, one for each pair of pins. n l e j Each of the `devices comprise a bell crank 35, having' a single arm 35. and double arms 35', said arms diverging outwardly at an acute angle relative to each other from a tubular longitudinally disposed hub 36, said arms normally extending downwardly and slightly laterally relative tothe truck pivotally supported on the pivot bolt 36 which latter extends through said hub and longitudinally of the truck, and is supported in horizontal posi tion by the housing plate 36 suitably bolted to the underside of the truck floor. l

The housing plate is formed with a pair of spaced vertically disposed cylindrical hollow pin supports 37, extending from a point below the housing' plate to the top of the truckffloor. posed in ali'nement, respectively, with the double'arms 35, and are formed with verr1`hese pin supports are dis-` izo "preparatory to a As indicated in against the dog 39', when "the,

will fall by gravity into supportsy 19, and 26, may be truck body; of a plurality suitable distance above the truck floor level. The arms 35 have ,pivotal connection 38 with thea-od 89, said rod extending to a point adjacent the edge of the truck to be conveniently accessible to be manually actuadapted to loosely receive the rod 39 as indi-` cated in dotted lines (Fig.v 10).

Adjustably clamped on the rod, is the stop clip lll, the latter constituting a 'U- shaped member, the legs thereof adapted to be clamped into position by the bolt 41. dotted lines, Figure 8, the stop clip rests retaining' pins arein extended position.

When it is desired to withdraw thepins dumping .oper-ation, the dog may be swung; about its pivot 39 `to disengage theshifting rod 39, when the pins normal position.

and thel journal collectivelj7 termed a main hinged or swingable load roller support, flexibly connected to the truck, so" as to be' shiftable from a position above the truck floor to a position underneath same,`and1 the latch bars may-be termed automatic locking means for locking said roller support bodily within the body lines of the truck body; Y 'lhe auxiliary rollers may be said to be supported directly throughout their length solely by The 'main roll, the linls l5 the truck floor and' be readily removable therefrom.

l claim:

(l. rlhe combination with the floor of a of rollers disposed spacedly transversely of the truck intermediate the ends thereof,and lying; loosely on the floor thereof, a plurality of stop n'xeinbors movably mounted in the floor and jirojeeting abovev the surface thereof and located immediately adjacent thel respectivey 'ipgosite sides of said rollers to prevent traveling' of. the latter means for moving said stop members to clear the floor, and a roller in parallelism with said'rollers liingedly nimmtedr at `the rear end ofk the truck to be swingable from operative Uposition above the floor' to inoperative below' the floor.

2. ln a truck body of the class described, the combination with the floor of a truck body; of spaced' roller devices operatively positioned transversely of the .truck body, intermediate the ends thereof and supported en the floor thereof, said devices includingmechanism in the door vof the truck body whereby the devices may be readily rel .The dog is further Vpro- I vided with a laterally opening notch 40 vwardly over the floor,

moved from the surface of the floor, a roller normallylocated adjacent the rear end of the truck body above the floor thereof, journal supports for saidrolleig said supports supported by the floor, connections between said journal vsupports and the truck body whereby to enable said roller to be swung' from normal position to la position below the floor'level.

ln a truck body, the combination, with the floorithereof, of auz-iiliary spaced rollers extendingtransversely of the truck body g intermediate the ends thereof, said `rollers lying loosely on the floor thereof, a main roller parallel with said auxiliaryrollers located adjacent the rear end ofthe truck body, journal supports forsaid main roller said supports 'resting onu the floor of the truck body, hinge connections between. said journal Asupports and. the truck body to render said main roller swingable upwardly from the floor. and .outwardly and downwardly to a position below the floor, projections on the underside of said journal supports, and openings inthe floor adapted to receive said projections for the purpose set forth. j f

4. ln a truck body for the purpose set forth, the `combination with the floor .there` ingly mounted on the rear end ofthe floor, in a manner to be swung clear of the floor to render the latter a flat surface with no breaks of appreciable size therein.

5. lin a roller truclrbody, the combination with the floor thereof, of auxiliary load rolling,` vdevices locatedintermediate the ends of the floor, said devices' beine' constructed to be readily removable `to render the floor unobstructed, a conveyor roll located at the rear of the floor for conveying the load rearsaid conveyor roll. being swingably .mounted i and capable `of being swung to a position below` the lloor level,A means for actuating said conveyor roll, and releasable locking` means for automatically lockingv sa d conveyor roll in a positionbelow the floor level responsive to a swinging movement thereof.`

6; ln a roller truck body, the combination -withthe floor thereof, of a main roll swingingly mounted at the rear` end of the floor in a manner to be vcapable of being swung entirely clear of the licor and below the surface thereof, stop devices slidably means including releasable locking means,

in parallelism with said roller devices and and pivotal l0() ymeans for manually rolling` the load, swing'- l for holding` said devices in projected position, and rollers for rollingly supporting 'the load, lying loosely between said stop devices to be thereby prevented from rolling.

7. In a conveyor roll for trucks of the class described, the combination with the floor of the truck, ofjournal supports rest-k ing` loosely inlateral alinement on the rear end of the truck floor, a roller journaled in said supports, coaeting means between the journal supports and the Hoor for opposing` a 'horizontal shiftingmovement or' said journal supports, links hinged to said journal supports, said links dependino' `from the rear edge o1" the ioor, and hinge connections between the lower ends of said links and the truck body.

8. .in a. conveyor roll for truck bodies of the class described7` the combination, laterally alined end journal supportsresting` on the rear end of the truck l'loorgfa roller ournaled in said supports, hinge connections between said journal supports, and the truck body whereby said roller is rendered swingable to clear 'the fioor7 and a ournal support for said roller located. between said journal supports and having hinge connection with the trucl-z body to swing in unison with said journal supports. 9. In a roller truck body, the combination,v

with the floor thereof, oit' auxiliary load rolling devices, said devices including j rollers disposed transversely oi the floor and located intermediate the ends thereof, said de-` vices constructed to be readily removable to render the Hoor unobstructefh and a hingL JOHN oennu; 

